4 Sweethearts 4

Peach's mother was startled by the revelation that she had unknowingly thought of the two children as betrothed.

Although Shen Mochen's father was young, he was already a university professor in ancient Chinese history. Despite his choice of studies, Shen Mochen's father's thinking was by no means old-fashioned. In fact, he was more open-minded than other people who were born in his era.

Had he been close-minded, he would not have readily agreed when He Yue mentioned sending betrothal gifts to Peach's family.

In his own words, this was a decision that was both traditional and shocking.

By tradition, he meant arranging a marriage for his children. He would be neither the first nor the last person in history to do so.

The shocking part was that he believed that if a child was going to have a puppy love, he or she should fall in love earlier. If they waited till after ten years old, it should no longer be considered puppy love. Throughout history, some emperors would wed at the early age of eight.

With the strong support of Shen Mochen's father, Shen Mochen and Peach unknowingly became engaged.

When Shen Mochen was four years old, Peach was two years old. By then, she was a little girl who could walk and talk. She would follow Shen Mochen around every day and call after him incoherently, "Husband … Husband …

"Husband, wait for me…"

"Do you want to eat this, husband?"

"My husband is hungry…"

Glaring at her with his large bright eyes, Shen Mochen would puff out his cheeks and push Peach away before demanding in a babyish voice, "Do you understand what 'husband' means? Do you even know what a husband is for?"

Innocently sucking her thumb, Peach pondered over his question. She then recalled witnessing her parents kissing on the couch in the living room. Nodding her head, Peach replied to Shen Mochen in all seriousness, "I know! A husband is for kissing!"

The second the words left her mouth, she rushed over to Shen Mochen and placed her palms on both sides of his cheeks. "Mwah!" Peach landed a loud kiss on Shen Mochen's cheek.

Shen Mochen's face turned pale and he froze on the spot. After a long time of being motionless, he headed out of Peach's house towards his own, without saying a single word.

"Husband, where are you going?"

The answer to her question was a loud bang as Shen Mochen slammed the door shut.

Peach stood rooted to the ground, gnawing on her fingers uneasily. Confused, Peach tilted her head to the side and mused over what had happened. She wondered if she had made a mistake. Recalling that her parents had kissed each other on their lips, the conclusion Peach arrived at was that Shen Mochen was upset because she had only given him a peck on the cheek instead of his lips.

Pleased with her realisation, Peach clapped her hands and skipped home. She decided to kiss him on the lips the next time they met so as to resolve the issue.

However, Peach waited for many days but Shen Mochen did not turn up. Curious, she approached He Yue before He Yue left for work. Grabbing He Yue's skirt, Peach asked, "Godma, where's my husband?"

Glancing down, He Yue saw that it was Peach. She then replied Peach with a smile, "Chen Chen has gone to kindergarten. The kindergarten has organised a camp for the students to help them adapt to their new environment, so he will be staying over at the kindergarten for a few days."

"Kindergarten? What's that for?" Peach wondered.

After listening to He Yue's explanation, Peach released He Yue's skirt and slowly headed home. She could not arrive at an answer despite trying so hard to understand, so she gave up trying. To her, she would go wherever her husband was.

In the evening, when Peach's mother came home from work, she saw Peach sitting earnestly on a stool while waiting for her. When Peach spotted her mother, her face lit up.